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Greggs the bakers adds to work experience scheme concern Minister hits out at 'false' work scheme campaign
(about 3 hours later)
Bakery chain Greggs has become the latest company to voice concern over the government's controversial work experience scheme for jobless people. The employment minister has claimed a small number of activists are trying to "destabilise" firms involved in a controversial work experience scheme.
Chief executive Ken McMeikan told the BBC he was not be comfortable with young people potentially losing their benefits if they leave the initiative. The scheme allows unemployed youngsters to do unpaid work for up to two months without losing benefits but has been criticised by some as "slave labour".
Critics say the Get Britain Working project is "slave labour" that exploits people on benefits. Chris Grayling said firms were "jumpy" because of a "false campaign" he blamed on the Socialist Workers' Party.
The government has insisted that the scheme is an "excellent" opportunity. The party said the campaign was backed by "very large numbers of people".
Waterstones and Maplin have already left the scheme, and Matalan said it had suspended its involvement pending a review. Tesco and Argos have expressed concern. Concerns expressed
The scheme, aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds on jobseeker's allowance (JSA), allows them to do unpaid work experience with a company for up to eight weeks - without losing their benefit and potentially with some expenses paid.
But if jobseekers choose to take part and then fail to turn up without good reason after the first week, their benefits could be docked for a period. This has led critics to question whether the placements are really "voluntary".
Various firms have expressed concerns about government-backed work placement schemes in the past week, amid claims that they exploit people on benefits.
On Thursday Ken McMeikan, chief executive of the bakery chain Greggs, told BBC Two's Newsnight programme he and other business leaders would meet the government next week to discuss the scheme.
He said: "If after a week or more you decide as an individual that it's not working for you and you leave the scheme, we don't believe at Greggs that the benefits should be taken away."
'Entirely voluntary'
But he added it was a "small minority of people" of people criticising the scheme and most youngsters who had been through it "like it and they want us to continue offering it".
Mr Grayling told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that joining the scheme was "entirely voluntary" and many of those who took part went on to get jobs with the firms.
"All of the evidence we can see is that this does better than simply leaving people on JSA, it actually helps more young people get into work."
He said "jumpy" companies were coming under pressure from an internet campaign which he claimed was being run by the Socialist Workers' Party.
"The High Street retail sector is going through a tough time at the moment, if you're running a company and you're getting streams of emails attacking you, it's very unsettling. It's a false campaign.
"I don't accept that the scale of the campaign is very large, it's a small number of activists who are deliberately targeting these companies and trying to destabilise them."
He said jobseekers who dropped out of the scheme "without good reason" would be investigated - and in some cases face the same sanction they would for not turning up to sign on at the job centre.
And he argued that the only compulsory scheme they operated was a short-term scheme used when Jobcentre Plus advisers felt someone's job search has "gone off the rails" - which was work carried out on "community-benefiting projects".
Waterstones, Maplin, Matalan, Tesco and Argos are among firms to have expressed concerns about government-backed work placement schemes.
Sainsbury's, meanwhile, said the small number of stores that took part in the scheme following local approaches had since ceased participation, as it was not company policy.Sainsbury's, meanwhile, said the small number of stores that took part in the scheme following local approaches had since ceased participation, as it was not company policy.
Mr McMeikan told BBC Two's Newsnight programme that he and other business leaders would meet the government next week to discuss aspects of the scheme. Socialist Workers Party national secretary Charlie Kimber said: "Grayling should know that the campaign against forcing the unemployed to work for nothing is supported by very large numbers of people, not just the SWP.
'Back on benefits' "That is why the campaign by Right to Work alongside others has scored successes against several major employers and will continue until the whole scheme is scrapped."
He said: "If after a week or more you decide as an individual that it's not working for you and you leave the scheme, we don't believe at Greggs that the benefits should be taken away. Kirsty McHugh, of the Employment Related Services Association, which represents "welfare to work" companies, said if benefit rules were stopping companies wanting to provide placements the government should look at them again.
"Our view is if they are volunteering to come on this scheme, and for whatever reason they come off, then they go back onto benefits. Are you in the work experience scheme? Are you an employer involved in the scheme? Tell us your experiences using the form below.
"I would be very uncomfortable if the response that we get next week is that [the government] would continue with the scheme as it is at the moment where, if after more than a week into the placement, people come off then they lose benefits."
But he added: "There is a small minority of people out there who don't like the scheme.
"When you speak to the young people that have gone through the scheme, they actually like it and they want us to continue offering it as employers."
Under the scheme job centres can arrange unpaid work experience placements for unemployed people, which are initially voluntary.
But if they complete a week of work they have to remain in place for up to two months, or risk losing their benefits.
Kirsty McHugh, of the Employment Related Services Association, said: "It seems that some issues around the benefit rules are getting in the way of people volunteering and companies wanting to provide work placements.
"If that's the case we think the government should look at the benefit rules again."
The programme offers the long-term unemployed work experience or training, while providing financial incentives to employers.
If jobseekers choose to take part but then fail to turn up without good reason, their benefits could be removed. This has led critics to question whether the placements are really "voluntary".
'Demonstrate potential'
The scheme has attracted adverse publicity recently, with opponents claiming large companies are using it for cheap labour.
But the Department for Work and Pensions has said it is an "excellent scheme that we know is making a real difference to the job prospects of young people".
Employment Minister Chris Grayling told Newsnight: "The work experience scheme is a voluntary scheme to provide young people who are unemployed with an opportunity to get into the workplace and demonstrate to a potential employer what they can offer.
"Or they can gain some experience to take to an interview elsewhere.
"The scheme's voluntary, they will go and meet the potential employer, if they're happy they will start the placement, if that placement doesn't work out they can leave in the first few days.
"If they decide to leave at a later date we will investigate the reason why. If they've left without good reason they could face a sanction.
"That sanction is the same sanction they might face for not turning up for a fortnightly job interview."